Understanding Salat — Page 198
Understanding S al A t 198 we now know. If the story is a tragedy and it is told well, then we are so saddened when the main character dies that we cry. We feel as if we lost someone we knew personally. We know that this character does not exist, we know this is fiction and that every character is imaginary, but knowing all of this, we still cry. This is the power of narrative. When we follow a character through the journey of their life, we develop such a strong personal attachment with them that it can stay with us for years. If this is the effect that a fictional story can have on us, a nonfiction story can have a far more significant impact. When we read a well-written biography of any historical fig- ure, it immerses us in their era, and we feel like we lived their life with them. If we see the legacy of that person in the world today, it takes on a more personal value. If, as a minimum, we take this simple approach to our reading of the biography of the Holy Prophet sas , it will be of immense spiritual bene- fit. When we read about his birth and childhood, we should immerse ourselves in the culture and society of Arabia in that century. As we read about his sas youth, we should imagine navigating the streets of Mecca. We should become an ordi- nary person living day to day life in Arabia. As we read about his sas prophethood and all of the trials he sas went through, we should imagine that we were there at every step ready to offer any sacrifice, that we experienced each event as if it were an event in our own lives. When we read about his sas demise, we should feel the loss personally and mourn his sas passing.